


Even Blissful Ignorance Comes to an End (And Your Senpai Will Make You Deal)

by MapacheLuna



Series: Kyouhaba Week - Soulmates Universe [4]
Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, KyouHaba Week, M/M, Soulmate-Identifying Marks
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-09-17
Updated: 2015-09-17
Packaged: 2018-04-21 05:06:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,977
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4816118
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MapacheLuna/pseuds/MapacheLuna
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Tooru didn't know for SURE why Yahaba had decided to start yelling at him in the middle of the street, but he could guess, and it was his responsibility to make sure that his kouhai didn't have a soulmate-related mental breakdown in public while wearing what looked like a good pound of orange cat hair.</p><p>Tetsurou on the other hand, got to go puppy-wrangling. His troublesome case brought him to the gym, so he was sure he got the better end of the deal in the end, even if his date had gotten cut short because of these angsty Miyagi kids.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Even Blissful Ignorance Comes to an End (And Your Senpai Will Make You Deal)

**Author's Note:**

> This one may be my favorite part so far, and that may have a lot to do with the fact that it's from Oikuro's POV. The prompts for today called for either "team" or "soulmates," and since this entire series is already "soulmates," I guess I technically went with "team," even though the team here is only like, one and a half (Iwaizumi is an enabler) plus an outsider who technically played with the team. Once. 
> 
> Can you tell that I'm literally twisting the prompts to meet the plot needs? Just wait for what I'm going to do with tomorrow's.
> 
> Kyouhaba Week: Day 4: Prompt/Team (and technically Soulmates, I guess)

“Okay, Kuroo-chan, next question!” Tooru declared, bringing their clasped hands up to tap against his lips thoughtfully, gleefully aware of Kuroo’s eyes lazily following the motion.

“Another one?” Kuroo asked. “Don’t you want to leave any questions for another day?”

Tooru scoffed. “Why?”

Kuroo shrugged. “So we’ll actually have stuff to talk about later?”

“Don’t be silly, Kuroo-chan,” Tooru flicked his hand in the air dismissively. “You’re my soulmate; you were made for me, and I was made for you. We’re never going to run out of things to talk about.” And even if Kuroo did -which he doubted would actually happen; Kuroo _had_ just spent their entire lunch talking about the distinct differences between burgundy and maroon,- then Tooru would happily fill the silences for them. Iwaizumi always told him he talked too much anyway. Soulmates balanced each other out, right?

The taller boy hummed at that, rolling his eyes upwards in overly serious contemplation. “I can’t argue with that logic, I suppose,” He nodded resolutely, a gleam in his eyes. “Alright, ask away, princess.”

“Should have never told you about that nickname,” Tooru grumbled, tugging on one of the many wayward strands of black hair around Kuroo’s head. “Rooster Head.”

“Now, that,” Kuroo pulled his head back and frowned petulantly down at him, “Was uncalled for.”

“I say it only with the utmost love,” Tooru cooed, enjoying the put-upon expression that crossed Kuroo’s face a little too much, before it was swallowed up in a knowing smirk all too soon.

“Well, _dear_ , I suppose I should be so blessed. From Grand King to princess, I must say I feel quite honored to be in the presence of such a strong royal lineage.” Tooru puffed his cheeks out and yanked harder on the piece of hair in his hands, but Kuroo just ignored him and devolved into cackles.

As much as the reminder of Karasuno’s little troublesome grasshopper almost always managed to put a damper on his mood, he couldn’t help but admire the way Kuroo didn’t even skip a beat before tossing a barb right back at him. He kept him on his toes, made him fight for the upper-hand in their little verbal matches, and didn’t let him get ahead of himself too easily.

But on the other hand, he could already tell that the other boy was willing to indulge and spoil him with the way he let Tooru lead their outings and conversations, willing to trail after him with a lazy strut and a content smile on his face without a word of protest.

The entire day had been a fine example of that. He had been letting Tooru drag him across what felt like half of Miyagi since nine in the morning with the closest thing to a complaint all day being the sarcastic, _“Really? Are you going to show me all of Miyagi’s bakeries?”_ when Tooru insisted they make a third pit stop for more milk bread. He still bought it for him anyway.

He’d also been indulging Tooru’s game whims, from I Spy to a very short-lived round of Hide and Seek -the mothers in the park apparently didn’t take too well to two six foot plus teenage boys ducking behind trees and playground equipment while giggling and cursing at each other- to their current Twenty Questions.

Kuroo was better than the perfect person he had always imagined for himself because he was _real_ , ridiculous bedhead, horrible jokes, and smooth chivalry all rolled together into a tall package that was made only for him, Oikawa Tooru, and no one else.

“Alright, alright,” Kuroo snickered, reaching up to untangle Tooru’s fingers from his bangs. He pulled their joined hands down to his face, pressing his lips onto the same spot Tooru had touched to his own mouth. “What’s the question?”

Tooru fought down the light bubbly feeling trying to burst out of his chest and instead just smiled brightly at Kuroo, watching his golden eyes soften as they settled on his face. “Alright, Kuroo-chan, let’s see; what’s your favorite non-volleyball related guilty pleasure?”

“Was the ‘non-volleyball related’ part really necessary?” Kuroo asked dryly before sighing. “Let’s see. Probably napping in the sun. My room faces West, so I have some of my best naps there, and why are you laughing now?” He tried to sound exasperated, but Tooru could see the amusement crinkling the corners of his eyes. Kuroo had very expressive eyes.

“You _are_ a cat after all, Kuroo-chan!” He told him in between giggles, poking him in the chest. “A giant, lanky, lazy cat!”

“Oh? Is that so?” Kuroo tugged him closer and buried his face into the skin behind his ear. “So I guess that makes me your big bad kitty, then?”

“That was horrible-,” Tooru interrupted himself with a shriek when Kuroo started purring, loudly, the rumbling making his skin crawl and tickle. “St-stop th-that! K-kuroo!”

“Oh my God, have you no _shame_?!”

They jerked apart at that, and Tooru was fully expecting to see another embittered middle-aged woman in yoga pants but instead was greeted to the sight of Yahaba standing a few feet away, chest heaving and eyes wide. He was also covered in an eye-searing amount of orange cat hair.

Tooru opened his mouth but Yahaba beat him to it.

“I knew this was going to happen, it was bound to happen, I told him, _I told him_ , but did he care? Of course not, because he’s a spoiled brat, and then he had to go and force me into reevaluating my entire fucking life and life-choices just because _he didn’t like his new food_ , why is this happening to me?!” Yahaba paused for a breathe, eyes still a little too wild looking for Tooru to feel comfortable in his line of sight.

“Ah, who, Yaha-chan?”

“Momo.”

“And who’s that?”

“My Maine Coon.”

“Your cat,” Tooru asked, receiving a halted nod in response. “Your cat made you rethink your life choices?”

“No,” Yahaba breathed raggedly. “Not just him. This is _his_ fault too, he has to know, there’s no way he doesn’t know, I think?” He paused to blink at the ground. “He knows, right?”

Kuroo leaned slowly towards Tooru’s ear, eyes never leaving Yahaba’s frazzled form. “I think the creampuff over there is about to start leaking filling all over the sidewalk. Should we make him sit down or…?”

“Yeah,” Tooru nodded slowly, watching Yahaba mutter angrily. “That’s probably a good idea, Kuroo-chan.”

“I’ll go buy him a sports drink then; he looks like he needs it.”

* * *

 

“So, Yaha-chan,” Tooru asked pleasantly, making himself comfortable on the bench next to Yahaba as the younger boy slowly sipped at his drink. “Are you feeling better?”

“Ah, a lot, thank you, Oikawa-san,” He picked at the label on his bottle bashfully, eyes on his knees. “And thank you for the drink, Kuroo-san.”

Kuroo shrugged, looking characteristically at ease despite being the only one still standing. “Don’t worry about it, Creampuff. I’m just glad you have some color back in you. You were looking kind of wobbly for a while there.”

“Creampu-,” Yahaba furrowed his eyebrows before shaking his head. “Yeah, I guess.”

“Did you lose your cat?” Tooru asked.

“Oh, no, my brother picked him up after I called him,” Yahaba flushed again. “I may have yelled at him too.”

“Because he bought your cat the wrong food,” Kuroo clarified, “And that somehow led to an existential crisis, right?”

“Ah, sort of?” Yahaba sighed, running his hand through his hair shakily. “The vet said cats can get particular about their food brands, and Momo had been refusing to eat the new food so I had to bring him to the clinic.”

“So something happened at the vet’s?” Tooru was starting to get a vague idea of what might have possibly happened, but he wanted to hear it from Yahaba first. “Was somebody there that you didn’t want to see?”

Yahaba sighed loudly. “How do you always do that, Oikawa-san? Matsukawa-san was right; it’s scary.”

“It’s a little sexy, though.”

“Kuroo-san, _please_.”

Kuroo threw his hands up. “Right, sorry. PDA sensitive, got it.”

Yahaba huffed, hunching his shoulders. “It’s not _that_ , really, it’s, a bunch of stuff, or something.”

Tooru watched Yahaba curl and uncurl his fingers, particularly, the fingers on his right hand, the same hand resting on his lap, displaying his angry doggie soulmate mark for all to see.

“Soulmate stuff, Yaha-chan?” He asked gently, watching Yahaba stiffen immediately. “You found your soulmate, didn’t you?”

“I’m not sure,” Tooru could admit that his heart hurt in sympathy at the completely lost look in Yahaba’s pretty light brown eyes. “I don’t know.”

“But you think you did,” Tooru didn’t bother phrasing it like a question; he had a good idea how this story ended.

“Maybe,” Yahaba muttered, glancing at Kuroo and then away with the merest flicker of his eyes, but of course Kuroo caught it.

“Alright, this looks like a mentor-mentee situation,” Kuroo smiled wryly. “I’ll make myself sparse for a bit then.” Yahaba jerked his head up, an alarmed look on his face.

“Kuroo-san-,”

Kuroo just reached over and patted his shoulder. “Calm down, I’m not taking it personally. You and Oikawa need to talk and I’m still a stranger; there’s nothing wrong with not wanting to have heart-to-hearts while I’m lingering in the background.” He pointed a finger at the half-full sports drink. “Finish that up and take care, alright Creampuff?”

Yahaba sighed at the nickname but nodded anyway. “Thank you, Kuroo-san.”

Kuroo winked at him as he straightened up. “It’s no problem at all.” He looked back at Tooru. “I’ll just hit the shops for a bit. Text me when you’re both good, alright?”

Tooru swallowed down his disappointment; his kouhai needed him, he couldn’t be selfish. “Are you sure you’re not going to get lost, Kuroo-chan?” He teased lightly instead. “The countryside isn’t like your tame urban playground, you know. There’s no street grid system here.”

Kuroo just chuckled and leaned on the back of the bench to bring their faces closer together. “You said it yourself, didn’t you? I’m a cat, and if there’s something you should know about cats, it’s that we always find our way back home.” He leaned in to press a kiss to his temple and Tooru couldn’t help but turn into the touch, just a little. “I’ll find my way back to you.”

“Kuroo-chan…” Tooru was hyper-aware of Kuroo’s curling lips near his _very_ red ear, and that was probably the only reason he actually heard the last part of what Kuroo had to say:

“I’ll find the pup too; he’s probably not too far.”

Was two weeks of texting and a day and a half of seeing someone in person long enough to fall in love? Because Tooru was sure the warm bubbling feeling in his chest couldn’t possibly have any other name.

* * *

 

Tooru watched Kuroo wander off with a lazy salute before Yahaba’s voice pulled him back.

“You remind me of my parents.”

“What was that, Yaha-chan?” Tooru blinked at Yahaba, who was looking at him with a tired smile.

“The way you guys act around each other.” He clarified. “It reminds me of the way my parents are with each other. They’ve always told me that the feeling of finding your soulmate never fades.”

While that went a long way to alleviating some of Tooru’s own worries, he could tell by the pinch around Yahaba’s eyes that he wasn’t feeling the same giddiness that Tooru was.

“You look worried about that, Yaha-chan,” He tilted his head, deciding to test the waters, just a little. “It’s someone you already know, isn’t it? Are you worried about the type of relationship you already have?”

Yahaba stared at him from the corner of his eyes suspiciously. “Why do I get the feeling that you already know who it is, Oikawa-san?”

“I have a guess,” Tooru corrected.

“That’s probably right,” Yahaba deadpanned.

“Probably, but we can’t do anything about that, I’m just that good,” Tooru shrugged with a flourish, taking a little pride in the sincere smile that got him before it dimmed.

“It’s, I think, it’s Kyoutani,” Yahaba whispered, eyes clenching closed like he expected a loud exclamation. About six months too late, Yaha-chan.

“Is that bad?” Tooru asked instead. “I mean, it’s Mad Dog-chan, but it could be worse.”

Yahaba looked incredulous. “How?!”

Tooru raised a hand and started ticking them off. “Could be Tobio-chan, Coach Mizuguchi, that weird old man at the corner store with four teeth-,”

“Okay, okay,” Yahaba waved his hand. “I get it. But you have to admit, Oikawa-san, that we don’t exactly have, the best, relationship. It’s Kyoutani; he left the club because he kept getting into fights with everyone!”

“I don’t know,” Tooru hummed thoughtfully. “Mad Dog-chan seems to be less feral now, doesn’t he? He’s been coming to practices and helping Kindaichi with his spiking. And no one’s come up to me all week about him getting into any fights! He still doesn’t listen to me,” He huffed, “But Rome wasn’t built in a day, I suppose.”

“I guess,” Yahaba conceded. “But Oikawa-san,” He looked at him with raw panic in his eyes. “We don’t have _anything_ to build a relationship on. Nothing!”

“Are you sure, Yaha-chan?” Tooru was skeptical. “Because the way I remember it, Mad Dog-chan seems to have been willing to risk life and limb to save you from a volleyball yesterday. That seems like at least a _little_ something to me.”

Yahaba bit his lip and looked away, making Tooru think that there was probably definitely more than he knew going on.

“I may not have known until today,” Yahaba started, “But he _must_ have known.” He jabbed at his wrist. “ _I_ don’t cover my mark. Everyone’s seen it. Why didn’t he _say_ anything?” Tooru wisely pretended he didn’t hear the crack in the younger boy’s voice.

“I think, Yaha-chan,” He said softly. “That someone like Mad Dog-chan, with his growly face and bad temper, probably has more than a couple of reasons to think that his soulmate wouldn’t be all too pleased to find out about him.”

“That wasn’t his decision to make though!” Yahaba snapped. “That was _our_ decision, something _we_ should have talked about, not something he got to decide to hide and forget about all by himself!”

Tooru felt the deep-seated pride and hope he carried for Yahaba bloom, spreading up into his smile.

“I couldn’t have said it better myself, Yaha-chan.”

* * *

 

Tetsurou looked up at the veterinarian clinic with a quirked eyebrow, watching a man who looked an awful lot like the Man of the Hour inside look around, scratching his head and leaning over to talk to the lady behind the counter, who shook her head at whatever he was asking. The pup had split, then.

“Now,” Tetsurou planted his hands on his hips and looked up and down the street. “If I was an angry kid with a bad temper and questionable social skills, where would I be?” His thoughts immediately jumped to Kageyama, and he smiled to himself.

“Gym it is, then.”

True enough, as he walked around Aoba Jousai’s gym buildings, the familiar sound of volleyball abuse rang out from the open doors of the third building. Peeking inside proved that his hunch was right; Tetsurou was sure no one else in Miyagi would entertain that odd dye job. Back home, maybe, but it was an odd sight here in the countryside.

He stood inside the doorway for a while, just watching Kyoutani spike ball after ball at the wall, admiring the loud and rhythmic _SMACK_ each hit produced, echoing around the otherwise empty building.

“Are you just going to stand there?” Kyoutani didn’t turn to look at him, but Tetsurou took his opening.

“Was admiring your form,” He told him easily. “Your back’s a little stiff; Oikawa was telling me that your signature move is a full body snap? Can’t be easy if you’re carrying that much tension in your shoulders.” The shoulders in question tensed up further.

“I stretch better before games.”

Tetsurou hummed and wandered closer, patting him on the back as he walked towards the bench. “Might want to take a break then. If you didn’t stretch properly this time, you could pull something.”

“I don’t need you to tell me that,” Kyoutani muttered, but he slumped onto the bench next to Tetsurou anyway.

They sat in silence for a few minutes, before the younger boy started squirming, glaring at Tetsurou suspiciously. “Where’s Oikawa?”

Tetsurou shrugged easily. “Probably still at the park.” Not a lie; he hadn’t gotten any messages stating otherwise yet.

Kyoutani huffed a breath out through his nose. “So why are _you_ here?”

“Hey,” Tetsurou pressed a palm to his chest indignantly. “I’m a volleyball player too, you know. It’s almost instinct now, for my feet to find a court when I’m wandering.” Kyoutani looked like he wanted to call bullshit, but didn’t know how to go about it, so Tetsurou went on. “How did you manage to get in here, anyway? At Nekoma, only the coaches, me, and Kai have keys to the gym.”

Kyoutani glared at his knees. “I asked Iwaizumi-san.”

Tetsurou’s eyebrows flew up at that. Oikawa’s best friend was aiding and abiding Kyoutani’s refugee act? “Is he here?”

Kyoutani jerked his head towards the back. “In the office.” He glanced at him and then looked away again. “I helped him set up Mizuguchi-sensei’s computer so he could talk with his soulmate.”

Ah. Quid pro quo then. “And he couldn’t do that in his own house?”

Kyoutani shook his head. “Said his brother was visiting with his kids; too noisy and he doesn’t have a laptop.”

“So instead you helped him hack your coach’s computer so he would let you use the gym,” Tetsurou concluded, watching Kyoutani shrug. “You delinquents.”

Kyoutani grunted at that, casting him a sidelong glance. “You going to turn us in? Cause I gotta say, watching Iwaizumi-san choke on his own spit when he saw his soulmate’s face for the first time was kinda worth it.”

Tetsurou couldn’t help but throw his head back and laugh long and hard at that. “Yeah, Akaashi’s a babe, I can imagine it,” He shook his head fondly before propping his elbow on his knee, resting his chin on his hand before looking calmly back at Kyoutani. “But I can’t imagine that even Akaashi’s face was enough to distract Iwaizumi from realizing something was wrong with you.”

Kyoutani immediately froze, eyes widening before they narrowed into a really nasty glare. Scary. “You and Oikawa should come with warning labels.”

“It’s almost like we’re a fated pair,” Tetsurou said dryly, eyes lazily tracking the stiffening of the younger boy’s shoulders. “So, really, what did you say that got Iwaizumi off your back?”

“Nothing,” he told him bluntly. “Iwaizumi-san and I, uh, we’re not the kind of people who are, really good, at this kind of, stuff.” Which was a nice way of saying that the idea of having a conversation about feelings that didn’t immediately follow a physical fight gave them both hives.

“Fair enough,” Tetsurou conceded. “But sometimes you have to talk this stuff out. Because bottling it up can lead to leaky-filling related emergencies on sidewalks.”

“What?”

“Don’t worry about it,” Tetsurou said lightly, straightening up and stretching his arms over his head. “So, when were you planning on telling the creampuff that he was your soulmate?”

Kyoutani openly gaped at him before snapping his jaw closed with an audible snap. “Stop doing that.”

“Doing what?” Tetsurou quirked an eyebrow at him as he brought his arms down. “I just asked a question.”

“Did Oikawa tell you?” Question for question then.

“Not really. I had a hunch and it turns out that he shared the same one. You can say we both had our suspicions.”

Kyoutani looked exasperated. “You’ve been here for less than two days!”

“You’re not really subtle.”

Kyoutani looked down then, eyes focused on his wringing hands as they hung between his legs. Tetsurou noticed for the first time that he wasn’t wearing any wrist covering, and in addition to a rectangle of paler flesh, a black, slim-petal flower was exposed to his gaze.

“I’m subtle enough that he never even thought about me as a possibility.”

Tetsurou hummed. “Honestly, Creampuff seems like the kind of guy that once he sinks his teeth into an idea, won’t let it go until someone shakes him a little.”

Kyoutani snorted. “Sounds about right. Pretty sure he hates me now.”

“Bit of a big leap there, Pup.”

Kyoutani groaned. “What _is it_ with you two and nicknames?”

“We’re just expressing our creativity, don’t hate, and don’t change the subject,” Tetsurou nudged him with a knee. “What makes you think Creampuff hates you?”

“Uh, the way he acts?” Kyoutani rolled his eyes.

“Walk me through it,” Tetsurou suggested.

“He’s always glaring, arguing, and yelling at me,” Kyoutani stated blandly. “Seems like hate to me.”

“Now, hasn’t anyone ever told you that that opposite of love is actually indifference, not hatred?” Tetsurou quirked a smile at Kyoutani’s curious expression. “Investing all that time and energy to get up in somebody’s face takes passion, and it sounds like Creampuff seems _very_ passionate about you.”

“About yelling at me,” Kyoutani sounded scornful, but Tetsurou could see the contemplative furrow in his brows.

“Never said it was healthy,” Tetsurou waved the idea away with a flick of his wrist.

Kyoutani turned his glare back towards the ground, and Tetsurou let him be. He had probably exhausted his emotional reserves for the day; besides, he had given him plenty to mull over, instead of just turning all that pesky anger inwards.

“How did you know?”

Tetsurou blinked. “Know what?”

“How did you know that Oikawa was your soulmate?” Kyoutani asked the ground. “Was there anything, you know, besides just _seeing_ the mark?”

“Hm,” Tetsurou smiled a little, remembering the shock that ran through his system once he’d realized that the beautiful boy with the boyband messy curls and the wide brown eyes was _his_. “It was like,” He clenched his fist in the air, “Getting punched in the chest without any of the pain, just a sudden hit that rearranged something inside, that made me aware of the space meant for him in my life.” He opened his fist and let his smile slip into something more rueful. “I don’t know if that made any sense, sorry.”

“No,” Kyoutani was shaking his head slowly, the barest hint of a smile touching his lips. “It made perfect sense.”

* * *

 

“So, how did you know, Oikawa-san?”

Tooru made a questioning noise, looking over at Yahaba. “How did I know what, Yaha-chan?”

“I mean, was there any actual _feeling_ that let you know that Kuroo-san was your soulmate?” Yahaba looked like he was a little afraid of the answer, but was determined to hear it anyway.

Tooru smiled, letting his eyes fall shut to fully immerse himself in the memory of seeing Kuroo for the first time, knowing that this was _it_ ; this was the person that had been meant for him, that he’d been waiting for his entire life. “There was, but I’m not sure if it was anything supernatural, or if it was just the knowledge that worked me up.”

“How did you feel?” Yahaba asked softly.

“Like I was coming home,” Tooru answered honestly. “Or more like, I had found my home. Someone that was already mine, familiar and warm, but mixed with the shock and excitement of meeting someone new. Like going home to a good surprise, every time.” He opened his eyes, letting his gaze fall on Yahaba. “Did that help?”

“It did,” Yahaba nodded thoughtfully, brown eyes shining with his first easy smile. “Thank you.”

**Author's Note:**

> "Good Senpai" awards going to: Oikawa Tooru & Kuroo Tetsurou  
> The gold "An Effort Was Made" star goes to: Iwaizumi Hajime
> 
> And serious kudos to you guys who guessed Akaashi for Iwaizumi's soulmate! I have a blatant agenda where I'll try to infuse my rarepair OTPs into everything I feasibly can. Iwaizumi didn't get any actual screentime here, but I'll try to fix that soon.


End file.
